Providence Local News

Providence Mayoral Portraits Restored, On Display

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) _ Thirty-two portraits of past Providence mayors are on display in City Hall now that work has been completed to restore more than a dozen of them.

City Archivist Paul Campbell says the portraits cover a 150-year period and are the most complete collection of mayoral portraits in the United States.

Mayor Angel Taveras, Council President Pro Tempore Terrence Hassett, City Clerk Anna Stetson and the Division of Archives helped raise more than $25,000 to do the work.

Nearly all the city's mayors have a portrait, including Samuel Bridgham, the first mayor, who served from 1832 to 1842. The final mayor with a portrait is Joseph Paolino Jr., who served from 1984 to 1991.

The two most recent mayors, Taveras and David Cicilline, do not have portraits.